The concept of labelling pencils for school children for use at pre-school, primary school or secondary school is one which has been around for decades. Conventionally, labels were made using sticky tape or stickers however, this proved to be quite unsatisfactory as the labels would often fall off and then the pencils would be lost or taken by others.
Attempts to solve this problem have involved holding the pencil, cutting or shaving off a portion of the non-writing end of the pencil with an open razor blade or knife, and then scribing a name on the cut or shaved portion of the pencil. This method is not only time consuming due to the care which must be taken when using a blade or knife, but extremely dangerous to the user.
In addition, previous attempts have failed to produce satisfactory results, often resulting in an uneven cut or shaved portions, or else having a cut or shaved portion that is too large whereby, the internal graphite is exposed to the surface of the pencil.